US embassy cable - 05HARARE1006

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001006 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF FOR DAS T. WOODS 
AF/S FOR B. NEULING 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, EAID, ECON, ASEC, ZI, Restore Order/Murambatsvina 
SUBJECT: RESTORE ORDER UPDATE: DEMOLITIONS CONTINUE, 
RETURNS START 
 
REF: A. HARARE 991 
 
     B. HARARE 980 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Eric T. Schultz under Section 1 
.4 b/d 
 
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Summary 
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1. (S) Despite the Government,s announcement of the 
suspension of Operation Restore Order, demolitions continue 
sporadically in Harare, including the destruction of an 
industrial complex on July 18.  The police are reportedly 
waiting for word from President Mugabe himself before 
agreeing to suspend the operation.  In Bulawayo yesterday, 
press reports and local Embassy contacts indicate that police 
went to churches where displaced people had been staying and 
forcibly removed them to a transit camp.  On a more positive 
note, the Government began returning some of the families 
displaced from Hatcliffe to their original home plots after 
determining that they had had valid lease agreements, without 
however making any provision for their humanitarian needs. 
End summary. 
 
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Demolitions Continue 
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2. (S) Despite Local Government, Public Works, and Urban 
Development Minister Ignatius Chombo,s official announcement 
on July 15 that the Government would suspend Operation 
Restore Order (ref B), Embassy staff receive continued 
reports of demolitions around Harare.  Sensitive reporting 
has indicated that the police are waiting instructions from 
President Mugabe himself before suspending the operation. 
 
3. (C) On July 18, poloff and polasst visited the Kopje 
neighborhood of Harare after hearing reports that police were 
demolishing an industrial complex.   Employees of an auto 
parts provider and a coffin manufacturer, all Zimbabweans, 
said police had torn down the complex on July 18 without 
warning and without explanation.  An article on the 
demolition in the July 19 edition of ZWNews quoted a police 
officer saying that they had strict orders to tear the two 
businesses  and that the police did not take orders from 
newspapers, an apparent reference to the July 16 edition of 
the official Herald, which carried a front-page article on 
Chombo,s announcement. 
 
4. (SBU) On July 18, the security guard at an Embassy 
residence reported that city employees had been moving 
through his neighborhood, near the Harare suburb of Hatfield, 
marking houses they were planning to tear down.  The 
officials were demanding payment of 3.5-4 million Zimbabwean 
dollars to avoid demolition.  He said that officials had 
started marking houses and demanding the fee the same day 
Chombo announced the suspension of the operation. 
 
 
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Bulawayo Update 
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5. (C) In Bulawayo, on July 20, press reports, subsequently 
confirmed by local Embassy contacts, indicate that police 
trucks went around to churches housing the displaced from 
Operation Restore Order (ref A) and forced about 500 people 
to a transit camp that had been set up outside of Bulawayo. 
The police reportedly told the people they had until the end 
of the day to leave and that the camp, which had only 
recently been set up, would be dismantled.  World Vision 
staff told Embassy officers that they went to the camp to 
distribute food and were told to leave.  Only Zimbabwean Red 
Cross staff, the GOZ,s humanitarian assistance provider of 
choice, had been allowed to remain.  The World Vision 
employees added that there were no indications of the 
location to which the displaced would be moved. 
 
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Some Displaced Being Moved back to Homes 
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6. (SBU) The July 21 edition of the Herald announced that 
hundreds of the families taken to Caledonia transit camp 
returned to their housing plots on July 20, with 
transportation provided by the Government.  According to the 
article, officials in the Harare City Council, the Ministry 
of Local Government, and the Department of Social Welfare 
&vetted8 the families and determined that many held valid 
lease agreements or had legally paid for their plots and 
should be given lease agreements.  Government would 
&assist8 in (re) building houses on the plots as part of 
the government,s National Housing Delivery Program.  The 
displaced families, however, have returned to destroyed homes 
and no immediate provisions appear to have been made by the 
GOZ for their humanitarian needs. 
 
7. (C) In June USAID in conjunction with the World Bank wrote 
to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local 
Government, Public Works, and Urban Development, requesting 
that the Ministry allow displaced families from Hatcliffe who 
had housing plots allocated under a USAID-funded housing 
program to return to those plots.  USAID and other 
international donors are gearing up to provide for the 
humanitarian needs of the Hatcliffe families. 
 
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Comment 
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7. (C) The actions in Bulawayo and Harare indicate that 
Restore Order may still not be over, despite the South 
African pressure.  We will continue to monitor GOZ actions 
for further signs that it is not observing the announced 
suspension of the operation. 
SCHULTZ